2010-10-23
Explanation
This single-panel comic shows two girls talking behind a brick wall at what appears to be a prom or school dance. The caption reads "The Battle of Stalingrad turned out to be an unpopular prom theme." One girl is complaining: "Dancing?! Who cares if no one's dancing!? Two million people were killed in eight months." The joke is the absurd incongruity of choosing one of the bloodiest battles in human history as a theme for a high school prom, and then having an attendee take the theme far too seriously.
The humor works on the contrast between the lighthearted frivolity of a prom and the horrific gravity of the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943), one of the deadliest confrontations in World War II. The girl's indignation about dancing -- as if the real problem with the event is that people aren't properly honoring the historical tragedy -- is a classic comedy-of-manners absurdity. The brick wall decoration in the background also appears to be prom decorations styled after the rubble of Stalingrad, adding to the visual absurdity.
The votey panel continues the joke with the same girl asking "And how come no one came as Nazis?" -- escalating the absurdity further by implying that historically accurate cosplay would have been an appropriate element of this already wildly inappropriate prom theme.